Midweek Updates

Thanks for the prayers, I am now ACLS certified again! I actually made a 100 on the written exam and did well on the practical part!!! It's amazing how all the things I learned working in the unit came back to me when I had my "pt" (read: ugly half of a person manikin), monitors, and drugs in front of me!

I am now off work for the rest of the week!!!! Yay for both of my surgeons being out of town! I love them, but sometimes I need them to take off at the same time so I can take a break! :-) However, I don't think I'll have much of a break. I am just about to dive into my closet. If you don't hear from me within the next 24 hours, call Catoosa Co. 9-1-1! I may get lost in there or worse, die from being overwhelmed! Ha!

PLEASE keep praying about the thing I can't tell you about quite yet. Some big things could be coming our way VERY soon!!!! We just need all the prayers we can get that everything works out.

Welcome Fall, Glad You Could Make It

I don't know about where you are, but it was AWESOME here yesterday and today! Sunny and mid 70s! PERFECT!

Yesterday we played outside a lot with Spencer and went downtown to Big River to sit outside and drink their fall beer. It was the perfect fall sunday!

Here is Spencer modeling his new Halloween shirt/costume! He loves it!

Tonight I get to spend the night studying and doing the practice CD for ACLS. I let my certification expire about 2 years ago since I don't work in the hospital anymore, but I am considering getting a weekend PRN job at a small hospital close to our house and I will need it if I do that. Also, I just feel better knowing I have it. You never know when you might need to run a code! Ha! I am nervous about it since I haven't used any of that knowledge in almost 4 years. Scares me just a little! Ha! So, I get to spend the next two days sitting in a classroom at Erlanger.

Then, I am off for two days to clean my closets and my house from top to bottom. I've had it with the house! It is trashed and cluttered and I'm getting rid of all of it! I have the rare opportunity to take four days off in a row since BOTH of my surgeons are out of town. That NEVER happens at the same time, so I'm taking advantage of it!

We also have something that could potentially be HUGE in our family (no, not pregnancy related) that we need prayers about. I'll tell you more about it when I can, hopefully by the end of the week!

Party Like It's 1999!

Has it really been 10 years since 1999?! Last night was my 10 year high school reunion. It was so fun to see everyone. I had pretty not seen anyone other than maybe running into them at the mall or a restaurant since high school. I helped organize the reunion and it was definitely worth all the work to see everyone having so much fun!

Well, as you can tell, I ended up with tan lines, but oh well, it wasn't a big deal once I got there. I didn't care anymore! Ha! However, I LOVE this picture of us!

Beth, the girl in the middle and I were good friends in high school, but had not seen each other in 10 years! It was WONDERFUL to see her again! We spent most of the night talking. Kauri, on the left, was also a good friend and essentially put the entire reunion together herself. THANK YOU Kauri! It was GREAT!

Me, Beth, and Erica. Erica and I were on the committee together. Erica, it was great getting to know you again! Michael and I hope to see you and Ryan again soon!

Michael and Ryan (Erica's husband) did not go to school with us, so what did they do all night? Sit in the corner watching the UT game on Michael's blackberry!

Most Changed...Notice the name tag. Jason, I mean Jessica, has definitely changed the most! I wish I had a scanner so I could show you just HOW MUCH he/she has changed!!!!

Beth and I with Bryan. Bryan has been in active duty for the past 10 years and has served in about 10 different countries, so he won Most Traveled. Thank you Bryan for all you've done and it was GREAT catching up last night!

See you all again in 10 years!!!!

Even though this is not reunion related I cannot do a blog post without saying Happy Birthday to two men in my life who had birthdays this weekend, my father in law, Jeff on Friday, and Dr. Smith today! Happy Birthday!!!!! Jeff, we'll see you next week!!!!!

Sneak Peak

It's T-Minus 3 hours until the big 10 Year High School Reunion and I am happy to announce I found red shoes and bronzer for my tan lines (let's hope that works ok!). Here is a sneak peak of my necklace (wearing with matte gold hoops, black and gold bracelet), shoes, and dress! I LOVE IT!

Now, time to go get ready! It is a monsoon here AGAIN today, but we'll have fun anyway!!!! I'll be back tomorrow with pics!

Flood Update

I've had a few people email or text asking me if our families are ok and how close are we to Atlanta. Yes, we are all fine and we are about 1.5-2 hrs north of Atlanta in Chattanooga, TN. My MA (medical assistant) at work did have some significant water in her yard, but it stopped before actually getting in her house. We are currently waiting to see what, if any, damage it did to her car. Also, another girl at work did have water in her house. Not sure yet what if anything, she needs.

Traffic has been unreal around here today! This morning I-75 out of Ga into TN was backed up and almost made me late to work. There is a RV store right by the interstate that was underwater and thanks to channel 3 news, I found this picture to show you what I saw on my way into work this morning.

Then, this afternoon it took me 40 minutes to get from the on ramp downtown (rossville Blvd on I-24 for those of you in the area) to my exit onto I-75 South (about 6 miles!). Also, this picture is from the same website. It is another low lying road near my parents.

We think the worst is over and the creek that has caused ALL of this has now crested. Please pray for everyone effected by this.

Update on me. I made it through 8 hours of work and 10 patients this afternoon. I am VERY tired tonight, but I made it with the help of some Starbuck's (thanks Dr. Barker!)! I have my follow up with my urologist in the morning. Hopefully he will have some answers, but I doubt it, he never does.

Tan Line 911!

I have my 10 year high school reunion this weekend and I just realized this morning that my tan lines are going to show BAD with my strapless dress!!!! HELP! Any ideas how to get rid of it (other than the tanning bed, I quit that habit over 2 yrs ago!)????

Please help me out!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I am feeling a lot better today, but still weak and tired. I went in to work around 11:15 and when I got home around 6, I was wiped out! I came straight in and took a nap! Ha! I am hoping to go all day tomorrow. We'll see.

It has been a rainy past 6 or 7 days, but it picked up starting Thursday. We have had severe flooding to the extent that schools were cancelled today and several roads were under water. There is also no sign of it letting up either. This picture is from a road about a mile from my parent's house (I stole it from a news site)...

This picture is amazing to me. This was the main interstate through downtown this morning! Good thing I went to work late! (again, stolen from chattanoogan.com)

I also wanted to show you this picture and tell everyone that EIGHT years ago today, I met Michael! It was a blind date for a sorority theme party (no, we don't just dress like this everyday! Ha!) and we've been together ever since!

From Nurse to Patient In a Matter of Hours

Disclaimer: this may not be very interesting to you, but it is my blog/journal and I want to remember all about it, so I put all the gory details in here anyway.

Things got back to normal for a FEW hours Wednesday and Thursday. I mentioned on Wednesday that I had a kidney infection and wasn't feeling too good. What I didn't tell you, mainly because I didn't want everyone to freak out and lecture me, was that I felt so bad I had not eaten or drank ANYTHING in over 24 hours at that point. So, I was pretty weak when I went back to work on Thursday morning. So, imagine how overwhelmed I got when I saw this...

For those of you who don't understand why I don't take a vacation, now you know! Ha! Anyway, I started to shuffle through this mess and tried to drink some coffee, but just felt sick and had absolutely NO energy. My results came back on my urine sample from Wednesday and it was BAD, like so bad Dr. Smith made me call the urologist right then because it was almost renal failure bad. I knew when he said, either they could admit me or he was, I was in trouble! Well, I spent 2 hours sitting in the urologist office waiting for my work in appointment when the nurse said that I needed a CT and to come back Friday morning instead. I didn't know if I wanted to cry or go off on her or if it would be a combo of the two, so I just said ok and went down to CT.

At this point I had not eaten in 48 hours and could barely walk I was so weak and just felt like poo. I got back to our office around 1:15 and Dr. Barker realized just how sick I was when I couldn't even get up to go in rooms with him. I was MISERABLE! I was weak, in pain, and overall just didn't feel good. I was trying to drink some water, but it just made me nauseated, so around 4:30, my two wonderful, fabulous bosses decided it was time, I had to be admitted and given IV fluids and antibiotics.

Dana walked me over to my room around 5:30 and Michael came soon after with a bag of pj pants and tshirts, and clothes to wear home the next day (I was supposed to be good to go home and to my OB appointment the next morning). I called my mom and told her I wanted to try to eat some chicken and dumplins from Cracker Barrel (my all time fav sick food, it ALWAYS makes me feel better!) and I actually ate about half of my meal! It took the IV nurse (who I knew from when I worked in the hospital a long time ago) almost an hour to get an IV in me. In case anyone ever wanted to know what it looks like when someone is severely dehydrated, on aspirin, and has bad veins gets stuck, this is it...

By Friday morning I still wasn't peeing much (TMI, but sorry, it's my journal, I'll say what I want to remember) and still felt bad, so Dr. Smith decided to run a few more tests and have the urologist see me that afternoon. I had to cancel my OB appt, which made me a little sad, but what good was it going to do me to pregnant if I had renal failure??? (I am just going to ask that we just repeat this plan next cycle and start over then) When Dr. Smith came in I told him I felt so bad I had already called the answering service and cancelled my US and he laughed and said not to worry, he ran into my OB and told him I was there and he was canceling for me! Ha!

The renal US didn't show any dilation or fluid around my kidneys (which is AWESOME! I had that happen once before and got very, very sick) and the labs didn't show anything new, so the urologist and Dr. Smith decided it was just pyleonephritis (or severe kidney infection) and that I did need to stay another day for 2 more rounds of IV rocephin and fluid. I happily agreed at that point, I didn't care, just make me feel better!

By mid afternoon yesterday I was feeling a little better and found my new love...sprite! I drank 10 of these little things between yesterday afternoon and the time I left today. I made my mom stop for a 12 pack on the way home! Ha!
This morning I sent Michael home to get the house picked up and get some things we needed at the store and my mom came to drive me and my car (which was still there from when I went to work Thursday morning) home. Dr. Barker was supposed to come by this morning to let me go, but somehow I got left off the list and he thought I had already gone home, so we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally around 1 he found out I was still there and came by and told me I could go home. However, the resident didn't write any orders, so I sat another 3 hours before I FINALLY got out. I had my mom take this picture of me this afternoon so you could see my little set up. I had my pillow from home, my books, and my sprite. Ha! This is how I spent my last 2 days!
I was sooooooooooo happy to be home, but even more happy to be feeling better. Spencer was SUPER happy to see me and this is how we've been ever since.

Thank you to everyone who has sent texts, emails, facebook and twitter comments, and prayers our way and came to visit. It is so very much appreciated. Also, a BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to Dr. Smith for admitting me and spending so much time with me Thursday and Friday and being such a good friend. I am also very grateful to Dr. Barker for also taking care of me on Thursday and making sure I was taken care of today. I am soooooooo blessed to work for such great surgeons.

Sorry all the pictures are kind of crappy. I didn't have my camera with me, obviously since I wasn't planning on needing any blogging pictures from work when I went in Thursday morning. Hope everyone has a good weekend! I am going to spend the rest of the weekend cuddling with Spencer and watching football while resting up for Monday.

Rainy Wednesday

UPDATE: I survived jury duty!!!!! I will blog about that later. I don't even want to think about it right now, but I will tell you it was CRAZY! I am so relieved to be back to my normal routine!

It is a cool, rainy, blah day here in Ringgold/Chattanooga. However, the good news is, it looks like I'll be back at work tomorrow and able to make my US on FRIDAY!!!!! We are on a 2.5 hour lunch break while the judge and attorneys get everything ready for closing statements and deliberations this afternoon!!!! YAY!!!!!

On a not so happy note, my stinking kidneys are at it again. While we were in Knoxville on Sunday I got what I thought was just a normal bladder infection so I started taking some antibiotics and thought it would go away. It did, until yesterday morning around 4:3o. Since then I cannot pee enough (except for when I went to do a urine sample this morning, please pray they got enough!), severe pain in my back, and just overall not feeling well. BLAH! Hopefully today's urinalysis will tell us what is going on! My guess (because it's happened before) is that the bacteria was resistant to cipro and now spread into my kidneys. FUN TIMES! Many of you have asked if I have tried to find out why I have so many problems with my kidneys. Three different urologists and one surgeon have no idea. Other than I have a VERY mild form of spina bifida, but it effects me in that I don't know that I have to potty until it is TIME, like RIGHT NOW time. So, the four agree that I probably don't empty my bladder until bacteria has already started growing. Its hard with my job to do a routine, but I try. This is also believed to be part of the stone problem as well.

On to even more fun stuff, how do you like the new fall theme? I'll post some pics of my fall decor sometime between now and the weekend. Fall seems to be here today. I'm ready aren't you?! Now, got to get ready to go back to court soon. Hopefully I'll be out in time to rest a little before time to cook dinner.

Catch Up Post

There isn't much to report in, so I haven't blogged lately. Sorry. Friday night I went out with my mom to look for some shoes for the reunions coming up (Michael's is this weekend, mine is next weekend). I found one pair that I really like, but not sure about it. What do you think about red patent heels with a black strapless dress????

Saturday Anna and I hosted a Lia Sophia table at her school fall festival. It was fun and we booked a couple of parties!!!! Saturday night we went to Big River, our favorite local restaurant for Michael to mourn UT's loss to UCLA earlier in the day. (sorry for the crappy quality, just had my phone)

Yesterday we got up early and took off to Knoxville to spend the day with Michael's family. I forgot my camera again (I know, I'm a bad blogger here lately!!!), but we ended up going to the outside mall and walking around and finding some good buys. I got a fall rug at Kirkland's (I'll post pics when I get it outside) and some cute things at NY & Company. We also ate at my new favorite ice cream place, Menchie's. Too bad it's two hours away!!!!

It is awesome, you just get the cup and fill it yourself. Then put whatever toppings you want and then they weigh it. How cool is that?! I got dark chocolate with kitkat crumbles, hot fudge, and cherries on top! YUM! (Thanks Melissa for the pic!)

Today I started jury duty. WOW is all I can say about that!!!! Looks like my trial will be over by late Wednesday or early Thursday, so keep praying that I don't have to miss my ultrasound on Friday for CD 14!!!! As far as that goes, took my last femara yesterday and it is MUCH better than clomid. Much less side effects! Lets just hope it is doing what it is supposed to!

EDIT: Just heard Patrick Swayze died. How sad is that?! He will certainly be missed. I LOVE him in Dirty Dancing. What is your favorite Patrick movie?

Make The Most of Every Day

I know this week has been full of serious, sad blogs and I promise this is the last one this week, but I have to post this. Three years ago today, my life changed in a way I never could I have dreamed. I was in Tampa, FL with Michael on the beach on the 2nd day of my vacation when I called home and found out that my cousin, Courtney had died during the night in a car accident. I didn't know what to do other than turn around and go home, but my family insisted I stay and would not let me come home. It was a week that changed the way I saw things. (I wish I had a picture of her, but I can't find one anywhere. I've been tearing my house up trying to find one, but I think they are at my parent's house. :( )

I was selected to do a feature in our local paper a couple of weeks after her accident and I had to write a summary on what it meant to be 25 (it was about 25, 25 year olds). I chose to look at how much I had accomplished and wanted to accomplish and related it to all the things she wanted to do, but never got the chance. This is what I wrote and I wanted to post it today in honor of her and to remind you that we all need to make the most of every day (from October 2006):

Making the most of today is a priority

When I think about being 25, it hits me that I am now beginning adulthood. To me this means that I have survived the growing pains of childhood, the excitement and often stress of being a teenager, and the party stage known as college at a four-year university. Now it is time to go out into what I have always referred to as “the real world,” meaning not under the shelter of my parents or school, but now solely dependent on me.

I have been blessed with fabulous and very supporting parents who have always worked hard to ensure that I was never in need of anything. They taught me right from wrong and instilled in me a work ethic that I believe has helped me to achieve where I am today. My Nana is my hero. She has always been there for me. She taught me how to stand up for myself and that family is the most important thing in this short life.

When I look at being 25, I think all that has happened in my life. My husband and I have experienced the loss of a parent with the passing of his mother last year. We have purchased our own home and have begun looking at the possibilities of having our own family.

At the same time I look at all the things I have accomplished in my 25 years, I cannot help but to think about my cousin, Courtney. Courtney passed away last month at the age of twenty-one in a car accident. I think of all the things that she did not have time to achieve and how your life really begins after college.

In the three weeks since her death, I have added up the accomplishments I have made since I was 21: college graduation with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, marriage, and establishing a career. All of these things were goals we shared. I ran across a blog on her MySpace the other day. It asked what three things she wanted to accomplish before she died, she answered marriage, going to Italy, and skydiving. That is what really made me think, after college came the most exciting chapters in my life. Do not waste time just planning your goals, but make the best of everyday, for you never know what tomorrow holds.

Same Song, Different Verse

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalms 130:5

Today started the next round of drugs for me. It's CD 5, so the femara came out of the cabinet today to join it's friends, baby aspirin and folic acid on the daily medication regiment. Although I am happy to report that since the FDA only approves femara for use as a cancer drug, insurance paid for it t(except my $50 copay!!!!)!

I am excited to start it, but nervous that I might miss my CD 14 US due to jury duty. I'm sure my doctor will work something out with me, but it still makes me SUPER nervous that I might be taking this without any monitoring next week (if I'm chosen for duty). I am taking 2.5 mg twice daily on CD 5-9 (today through Sunday). I am due for my US next Friday at 8:15, hopefully if I do get selected for jury duty I'll be off by then.

Also today I had the first phase of my root canal! Fun times I tell you! Ha! I have always had terrible teeth, even though I brush, floss, and do everything I'm supposed to. Anyway, this was actually one of the most comfortable dental procedures I've had...until the lidocaine wore off this afternoon! It is throbbing pretty good now, so I'm planning on taking some pain meds and lying down. I'm sure by tomorrow it will be MUCH better.

Hope you are having a good week!

It Could Always Be Worse

I hope this post comes out sounding like I want it to, but I'm not exactly sure how to word it, so please bear with me!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

I don't how to say this other than I am in a deep funk and I don't know why, but I am in some deep hole and I am trying to get out, but can't. It's been going on since right before my last cycle. I think it is just here we are again in the fall and nothing has changed, just a lot of new heartache since the last fall. We've been through a housefire, rebuilding, another miscarriage, a diagnosis of Factor V Leiden, and now ovarian dysfunction. I keep thinking WHAT NEXT?!

I know I am not supposed to do that, but sometimes I can't help it. Then over the past few days I've thought a lot about a friend of Michael's. He died suddenly Saturday morning and left behind a wife that he married straight out of high school, that had never experienced life without him. She is also in the process of grieving over a baby that died sometime over last couple of months. I'm sure there were days she asked "what next", but never, ever could she had dreamed this. This poor girl has lost EVERYTHING she ever wanted over just the past couple of months.

This girl, whom I have never met, has weighed heavy on my heart since Saturday afternoon. I have thought about her so much today. I've had a day where I didn't feel good, I was stressed out and worried I'd never get pregnant, then all of a sudden, I thought of her. It could easily be me preparing for my husband's visitation tonight. That put a whole new perspective on my situation. At least I haven't lost EVERYTHING. There is still a chance for us to have a family. Her chance has passed and just when I start to feel alone, I'm reminded, it could be so much worse.

Michael keeps saying how lost and devastated she must be. I wish I knew her and could tell her how much I have been praying for her and thinking of her, but unfortunately I don't. Instead the best I can do is to pray for her. Pray that she can find the strength to go on and make it day to day. I also thank God that He showed me this situation during my time of self pity. I have been so sad over the past week since I realized the clomid didn't work at all and we were moving on to cycle 20. (Wow, cycle 20, I never dreamed I'd say that.) God has strange ways of showing you what is important and now I see it in a completely different light than I did 5 days ago.

Wreath Instructions

Due to overwhelming emails and comments, I have been asked how I made my autumn wreath. Rather than continue to reply to all emails and comments, I am posting here:

Last September I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a 36" (I think) grapevine wreath (1/2 off of course!) and then I got 2 of their fall garland swags (also 1/2 off!!!) and just tied them on the wreath with florist wire and tied a bow on. EASY! I also stuck a few beaded berried in there to glitz it up a little. :-) That's all there was to it. It might have taken 30 minutes if that long and so worth the savings to make myself! I think the entire thing cost me about $50 or $60, but for that size and the amount of stuff on it, I had priced them around $200! It is one of my very most favorite holiday decorations I have and I always get a lot of complements on it.

LONG Weekend Wrapup

Hope you've had a good LONG weekend. We have, overall anyway.

Saturday I got up and decided it was time...time to pull out the UT flag and the fall wreath!

I also got my roots done (which I was in desperate need for!) and then went to the mall where I FINALLY found the perfect dress for our 10 year reunions coming up in the next month (his is the 19th, mine the 26th.). I can't get it to save, but here is the link. I am LOVING this dress!

We also got some sad news Saturday afternoon. A good friend of Michael's from high school died early Saturday morning. We still don't have a lot of details, but the more I've heard about him, the more I've felt for his wife. Apparently they've been married since they graduated high school and have recently dealt with infertility and a miscarriage just this summer. After all I've been through, I cannot imagine how she must feel. All she has is gone. Please remember her over the next few days and months. I will be joining Michael after work tomorrow to go to the funeral home. It has been a sad few days for Michael.

Saturday night we had our neighbors and friends, the Mountjoys over for dinner and football! It was so fun! We had hot wings, bean dip, salsa, and party sandwiches. YUM! We all celebrated the fact that UT actually WON a game for once and won BIG!!!!!! They are going to the game this weekend and I am sooooo jealous!!!! I really wish I could see them play UCLA!

Sunday I slept in and when I woke up, I found Spencer in the bed and Michael had taken this picture...

Looks like little Addi Mountjoy wore Spencer out! She is 2 and had a TON of fun playing with him Saturday night! He was so tired he didn't even go outside until 5pm! We did everything to get him off the couch and he wasn't having it! Ha! He was lazy like his mommy. We took a LONG nap and didn't get ready until 7:00 when we decided to get dressed and go downtown for sushi at Sekisui. It was very tasty!!!

Today we just hung out with the Mountjoys again at the pool and tried to get ready for another week at work. I hate we never made it to the lake this weekend, but yesterday it was rainy and today Michael mowed the yard and we had a end of the pool season party at the community pool and just hung out close to home. Hopefully we'll make it back to the lake at least once more this year.

On another note, I got confirmation Saturday that my clomid didn't work. I will start femara on Wednesday. Please pray that this is the cycle for us. I am a little stressed about it though because my CD 14 US will be next Friday and I am supposed to be on jury duty some next week. I pray it will not cause me to miss my US. I've come too far to not get my US on time!!! Also, I think I have an abscessed tooth. :-( I've had some problems with a tooth since January, but this weekend it has gotten to the point where I can't even chew on the right. I guess I'll have to call that office tomorrow too. Looks like I'll be in and out of Drs offices over the next week!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Fall Decoration Question

When do you put them out? I am SERIOUSLY thinking about decorating tomorrow! I LOVE my wreath and garland for my mantle and I kind of want them out before we have a football party tomorrow. Is that crazy and too early? It does seem odd to have out decorations when we are still going to the lake, but I think I want them out anyway. Ha!

Here are my pics from last year. And here.

So, what do you think????

Loving Fall

It is September and we have had nice, high 70s kind of fall days around here lately and I LOVE IT! It makes me think of this...

FOOTBALL!!!!

Fall Decorations! Which BTW I am about to DIE to get my awesome wreath hung!

Big pots of chili on Saturdays while we watch football!

And of course, Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte and Caramel Apple Spice!

I can't wait! Once Labor Day is over, I'm ready to park the boat and bring on the cooler days and all of the above!